Rules of Quidditch

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The fictional game of Quidditch in the Harry Potter universe is centred around four balls: the Quaffle, the two Bludgers and the Golden Snitch (often abbreviated to Snitch). The Quaffle is described as being 'about the size of a football (soccer ball)' in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, although Quidditch Through the Ages states that it is twelve inches (30 cm) in diameter, slightly larger than a football.

• The Quaffle is bright red and, when dropped, sinks slowly to the ground. It is charmed so as to be gripped easily. Early quaffles were merely a patched leather ball, with a strap, and thrown one-handed. Some old Quaffles had finger-holes.*
• The Bludgers (or "Blooders") are ten inches (25 cm) in diameter, made of iron, and enchanted to collide with and unseat the players from their broomsticks.
• The Golden Snitch is only the size of a walnut, and flies around at immense speed with its two silvery wings. The ball itself is golden, as the name implies.

The Quidditch pitch as described in the books. The films' pitch is wider and has a larger centre circle with a halfway line.

Quidditch is played on a long oval pitch, (more like an Australian Rules Football oval). It is a grassed field 500 feet (152 metres) long and 180 feet (55 metres) wide. At each end of the pitch is a 'scoring area', which contains three goal hoops mounted on posts, each fifty feet (15 metres) high. In the centre of the pitch is a small circle, two feet (60 cm) in diameter, from which the game is begun. Players are required to remain within the bounds set by the pitch in horizontal directions, though they may rise to any height above the ground they desire, and the enchanted balls have similar limitations to their movement. This rule has been ignored by every Quidditch-match yet put to film.

There are seven players on each side in the modern game. The three Chasers and the Keeper may handle the Quaffle. The Chasers represent the major attacking aspect of Quidditch, passing and intercepting the Quaffle to gain the chance to shoot at goal. The Keeper guards his or her (Quidditch is played by both sexes without segregation) team's goalposts from attack, and generally stays within his team's scoring area. A goal, which can be scored in any of the three hoops, gains the scorer's team ten points.

Since it is difficult to take the Quaffle directly from another's grip (although this move is allowed), the two Beaters on each team try to force the opponents to drop the Quaffle, allowing it to come into the possession of their own team's Chasers. They do this by hitting the Bludgers at their opponents with their bats (which are like those used in rounders, though magically reinforced). The Beaters' most important job, however, is defending their own team from Bludger attacks.

The seventh and final player is the Seeker. He or she is usually small and light, and this is the role Harry Potter plays for Gryffindor House. The Seekers attempt to catch the Golden Snitch: this is no easy task, considering its great speed and difficulty to spot. The Snitch is worth 150 points and ends the game, often giving the catcher's team a win. This is felt by many fans to be a plot device to allow Harry to be as single-handedly responsible for his team's victory as possible, although it is likely that in many games (such as the 1994 World Cup Final) there is a gap of more than 150 points between the two teams after play has continued for a period of time. In such cases the role of the trailing team's Seeker is primarily to distract his opponent from catching the Snitch.

The fact that goals are worth ten points and a capture of the Snitch 150 means that Quidditch scores could easily be stated without the extra zero on the end (i.e. a final score of 200-130 could be stated as 20-13), and that a system of one and fifteen points could be used instead. This redundant system is used in memory of the Chief of the Wizards Council, Barberous Bragge, who in 1269 unleashed a Golden Snidget offering 150 galleons (equivalent to over a million Galleons today) to the player who caught the bird. Note that the Quidditch point system is no worse than the scoring system used in many other games, like tennis or 3D Pinball.

There are over 700 fouls in Quidditch, although ninety percent of them are now impossible due to the ban on using magic wands on other players. Quidditch is overseen by a referee, airborne like the players, who may award a free shot at goal (a 'penalty') to teams who are the victims of rule-breakages.

At least at school level, goal difference (points scored minus points conceded) appears to be important in where teams finish in the league table. Some fans say that it is the final decider for where teams finish; others argue that the number of games won is predominant, but goal difference comes into play when two teams are vying for a place. This happens quite regularly in the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup: three times have Gryffindor won the League whilst losing a game.